CreditEase CEO delivers a keynote speech at the first China International Import Expo

Tang Ning, Founder and CEO of CreditEase, delivered a keynote speech at China-Lithuania Economy and Fintech Cooperation Summit on November 6, 2018 during the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai. The summit was hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the People's Republic of China and China Association for International Economic Cooperation (CAFIEC) under Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania, Guo Yongle, Vice Chairman of CAFIEC, and Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania attended the summit and also delivered speeches.

Complementary advantages and win-win cooperation:

Several suggestions on fintech cooperation between China and Lithuania

Tang Ning, Founder and CEO of CreditEase

November 06, 2018

Distinguished President Dalia Grybauskaitė, distinguished government officials, financial institutions and business representatives from Lithuania and China, distinguished guests and friends:

Good morning! I am very honored to be speaking as an entrepreneur representative of China's fintech industry. I look forward to discussing with the Lithuanian delegation about the opportunities for economic cooperation, especially in the field of fintech, at this important import expo for international exchanges and cooperation.

The tide of fintech has spread across the world, and technology has made finance better. We have a great opportunity to use science and technology to solve financial inclusion problems that could not be solved in the past, including better financial services for individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises, better support for scientific and technological innovation, and more effective worldwide allocation of resources through exchanges and cooperation between countries, so as to promote the development of all mankind.

China and Lithuania have a strong foundation for multi-dimensional cooperation opportunities as China is one of the world's largest and leading fintech markets and Lithuania is an attractive and rapidly growing fintech market. There have been many good reports on the status of fintech in the two countries and I would like to propose some specific ideas for cooperation between the two countries in the field of fintech.

Chinese fintech enterprises "go abroad" in the following three ways: registering companies and carrying out business independently in the target market; establishing joint ventures with local enterprises to complement each other's strengths; and obtaining minority interest in excellent fintech enterprises in the target market through venture capital and industry investment. In my view, all three ways are feasible for the development of Chinese fintech enterprises in Lithuania because Lithuania has a good business environment, a supportive fintech regulatory environment, high quality fintech engineering talent, and a number of fintech enterprises that have already achieved early stage success. Conversely, for the fintech enterprises from Lithuania who wish to develop in China, I believe that China's fintech market will continue to develop rapidly and healthily in the coming decades, and there are good opportunities for all forms of investment and cooperation. Lithuania's fintech enterprises are different from the Chinese ones as they do not have a huge domestic market, but many of them have built their businesses based on models that can be deployed regionally within the European Union and even beyond that globally. Their excellent experience in thinking globally from the beginning and internationalization can be a very beneficial learning for the Chinese fintech professionals.

Lithuania's fintech industryhas a large proportion of consumer payment and online lending companies, which is very similar to the Chinese market. In the past decade, payment and online lending have witnessed massive growth as two key fintech verticals in China, while insurance technology, wealth management and asset management, applications using artificial intelligence and blockchain technology have also witnessed strong development.

Fintech companies are using technology and innovation in online lending to solve the worldwide problem of access to credit for tens of millions of individuals as well as small and micro enterprises in urban and rural areas. In this regard, the fintech companies have benefited from the rapid adoption of smartphones and several digital solutions by small and micro enterprises. Restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and beauty salons, delivery services and other industries are rapidly becoming digital. The farming and cattle breeding industries in the rural areas are also changing and benefitting through use of sensors and mobile apps that provide useful information about weather data, market prices of their goods, and tips on how much water and fertilizer to use for optimal results.

Fintech enterprises can make better and faster credit decisions by using the new types of innovative digital data to get better operational and transactional information about small and micro enterprises at a low cost, making what was impossible in the past possible today.

I am very confident that in the next ten years, China's online lending industry will make an important contribution to solving the financing bottleneck for small and micro enterprises in China and even in the world. We are also looking forward to more exchanges and discussions with Lithuanian fintech experts in areas of digital inclusive finance for individuals and small and micro enterprises. The proven big data and credit risk control capability that has been established by China's online lending platforms over many years can also be used by Lithuania through partnership and cooperation.

CreditEase, founded by me in 2006, is one of the world's most active fintech investors and has established cooperation with fintech enterprises throughout the world. While exploring investment and cooperation opportunities in Europe, we noticed that Lithuania's domestic market, although relatively small, has the strategic advantage of providing access to the whole European market. We are very interested in having more in-depth exchanges with fintech enterprises there.

In addition to direct investment in fintech enterprises, we also invest in the fintech industry in the form of investments in venture capital firms through our Fund of Funds. Whether in China or overseas, our FoF has invested in some of the best fintech investment funds in the United States, China and globally.. We provide them with long term,, patient and value-added capital over a 10-year period so that they can better support the early growth of fintech industry. I am very interested in establishing contacts and negotiating cooperation with Lithuania's fintech venture capital funds that invest in Lithuania or Europe. As part of this collaboration, we not only can provide funds, but also provide value-added services, such as our "AI+FoF", an FoF investment management tool based on big data and AI technology, which is used in China by local government's science and technology innovation guidance funds and by financial institutions such as banks and insurance partners.

China and Lithuania's fintech regulatory authorities, universities, think tanks, industry and trade associations also have a huge opportunity for cooperation. Technology is neutral and has no ethics. It does not represent trust and may be used to violate laws and regulations. Financial supervision is critical to the development of a strong fintech industry and consumer trust. Trade associations, training technology talent , research institutions, etc. also play an important and indispensable role in the fintech ecosystem. I am honored to hold posts in National Internet Finance Association of China, Internet Finance Association of Beijing and other industry associations, and work with colleagues in the industry to promote the healthy development of the industry. Over the past few years, we have organized many international exchange activities themed "Go Out and Come In". We look forward to various forms of cooperation with the Lithuanian Association of Financial Technology in the future. Here, I would like to invite Your Excellency the President and Lithuanian friends to the Beijing FinTech Summit 2018 during November 16 and 17, which is an international top-level industry event with participation from financial regulators, universities, think tanks, industry associations, fintech enterprises and investment institutions from all over the world. I believe that you will have a rewarding trip.

Finally, we look forward to moving forward with these collaboration ideas in the future, and promote complementary strengths and win-win cooperation between China and Lithuania in the field of fintech. Thank you very much!